One of my passions is gastronomy, and anyone who knows me knows that. And there is one aspect of this world that inspires me a lot in my strategic consulting work: the challenge of creating and running an award-winning restaurant. Gastronomy has countless lessons to offer businessmen and women, managers and executives in any sector - if you're interested in the subject, I recommend watching the spectacular Netflix-exclusive documentary series Chef's Table.
In this article, I'm making a point of putting on stage the Basque restaurant Arzak, which hasn't yet been featured on Chef's Table, but which deserves to be discovered. Arzak is the surname of the founding family, a family-run restaurant with the third generation at the helm. Located in San Sebastián in Spain, Arzak has managed the feat of holding 3 Michelin Guide Stars since 1989. The menu combines traditional Basque dishes, which value regional identity, with a gourmet touch.
It would take me a long conversation to describe the strategy and management model that explains such sustained success. Here I promise to summarize some of its most interesting aspects, which are critical success factors for any company today, and forever: delivering the current product mix (menu) with excellence, while cultivating the discipline of innovation; and the inviolable commitment to preserving a higher purpose.
A brief summary of its history is worthwhile
Arzak has remained in the same building since 1897, when Chef Elena Arzak's grandparents opened a wine tavern-shop. The place is small and cramped to accommodate the success of its 3 Stars, but the Chef insists on continuing there even without a beautiful view or a cozy garden, “because the restaurant would simply lose its soul”.
Elena's father took over her grandparents' store and turned it into a restaurant in 1966. Her mother worked as a hostess, welcoming customers and keeping the restaurant's accounts, as well as choosing the crockery and cutlery. By the age of 32, Juan Mari Arzak had already won his first Michelin star. The second came in 1978 and the third in 1989, which he still holds today.
In 1995, Elena joined her father in the kitchen after studying restaurant management and gastronomy in Lucerne, Switzerland, and worked in the kitchens of top restaurants for seven years in various European countries - such as Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo, Le Gavroche in London and El Bulli in Spain. To this day, father and daughter work side by side. Now 77, Juan has stepped back from the day-to-day running of the restaurant, which has been led by Elena with great success.
The delicate marriage between tradition and innovation
The soul and DNA of most starred haute cuisine restaurants is to rescue traditional ingredients from the local culture in a combination of contemporary gastronomic techniques. When she took over the restaurant from her father, Elena sought to enhance the Basque ingredients, such as pickled peppers, local fruits and nuts, incorporated into the alchemy of the dishes. She simplified the recipes to bring out the flavor of these forgotten ingredients, creating divine dishes that represent some of Arzak's singularities: lamb with white mulberries and black currants; lobster with banana and leeks; and poached egg with sweet corn and tomatoes.
But for a 3-star, Elena has naturally tried to combine simplicity with sophistication, a golden rule in contemporary haute cuisine. Elena knows that innovation is key to bringing customers back, but she won't give up her commitment to passing on the heritage of Basque gastronomy to future generations. Maintaining the 3 Michelin Stars is a huge challenge, one that can't alter their purpose and preserve the family legacy, but adds a healthy pressure to do their best every day.
A laboratory for prototyping new products
In 2000, Elena created a cozy kitchen on the top floor of Arzak with a brilliant library of flavors, filled with plastic boxes of spices and ingredients. All the ingredients have QR Codes to make it easy to identify their origin and contents. This is where she loves to work on creating new recipes, testing combinations and developing textures - constant experimentation in a process of systematic innovation.
In the restaurant's kitchen there is no room for experimentation, because this is the place to produce the current menu with excellence, taste and impeccable presentation.
But it is in her laboratory that Elena collects products from all over the world to discover new flavors and combinations. For her, innovation is a continuous process because the world of food is constantly changing, which requires permanent adaptation to the demands of customers who change frequently. This is her recipe for surprising customers and ensuring that Arzak is able to stand the test of time.
Success doesn't fall from the sky, it comes from hard work
Elena's success doesn't come for free: she wakes up at 8am and works until 2am from Tuesday to Saturday. She closes the restaurant on Sundays to enjoy her family, and on Mondays to take a breather from the market, attending congresses, workshops and social events. And she keeps up the good habit of taking a two-week vacation with her husband and two daughters in June, where she disconnects from Arzak to recharge her batteries and clear her head.
There is no single strategy for leading a successful restaurant, just like any business. The secret, for Elena, is a lot of dedication and authenticity - the formula for achieving uniqueness in any business. In the kitchen, Elena demands absolute discipline, but with respect for people and delegating responsibilities, as long as they work with focus and do their best every day.
May Arzak's heroic journey be a good source of inspiration and reference for you to reflect on your choices (and non-choices).
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